The Auction
by SLs-short-words
Summary: JONAS - Kevin is less than thrilled when he hears what Macy has agreed to do to help the school's sports team get new uniforms. Kacy with a side of Joella.


Disclaimer: I own nothing but the words.

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**The Auction**

He had known the minute the words had slipped from her lips that he wouldn't like it. But really, what could he possibly have done? What was there to answer other than yes when asked by his girlfriend if he trusted her, especially when she was watching him with those wide eyes?

"Really?"

Kevin took a deep breath. This was bad. He didn't know what it was, but it was bad.

"Really."

"Well, that's good."

He swallowed as he waited for more, but she didn't say anything else.

"Why do you ask, Macy?"

"Oh… um… well, there's this thing."

"A thing?"

"Yeah."

He waited again. She said nothing.

"What's the thing?"

"It's an auction."

"An auction?"

"To raise money for sports uniforms."

Kevin nodded. An auction. He may have expected her to ask him to buy something to help the team, but that didn't require trust now did it, and in all the time he had known Macy, she had never asked him once to spend any of his money on anything she wanted, no matter how philanthropic the cause. He had a feeling his wallet wasn't going to be the one to suffer from whatever she was going to reveal next.

"And…"

"And since I'm on all the sports teams, I've been asked to help."

Aha! Wait, no, that still didn't tell him anything.

"Help how?"

"With the auction."

"Help how with the auction?"

"Well," Macy hesitated and concentrated very hard on the hem of her skirt. "The thing is… What we're auctioning… See…"

"Macy, you're killing me here. Just tell me, please."

"We're auctioning us. Well a date with us. I mean, there are rules and stuff, but we're auctioning us. I'm going to be on sale."

"For… like, ever?"

"For one school dance. People can bid to bring us to the next school dance."

"Sold," Kevin answered, automatically reaching for his wallet in his back pocket. "How much do you cost?"

"That's the other part."

He froze. He knew there was going to be a part he didn't like. Sure, he wasn't that fond of his girlfriend being up for sale, but other than Joe and Nick, he didn't really have any concern of being outbid by anyone who wanted to buy her. It wasn't really all that bad if the worst of her news was that he'd have to give to a good cause in order to bring her to the next school dance. He was a fan of good causes and he was a fan of school dances. There hadn't been a problem thus far in his mind.

"Well, I said that I didn't want to be auctioned off because I had a boyfriend, but the other girls pointed out that I was on so many teams, that it was really only fair that I do my part as well."

Kevin laughed and pulled her in for a quick side hug. "It's okay, Macy. I really don't mind. I think you should get to contribute as well. So what do you think you'll be going for? Should I be asking Nick to write us another number one hit so I'm sure I can afford you?"

"That's the other thing. The girls were saying it really isn't fair that I know that my boyfriend can outbid everyone else when they don't know whether or not their boyfriends can bid enough to have them as their dates for the night."

"So…"

"So I'm going to have to ask you not to bid on me."

"That's fi—"

"And you can't ask Joe or Nick to bid for me either."

"Okay, then—"

"And you can't just help all the other guys bid enough to have their girlfriends as dates that night either."

Kevin's face fell.

"Apparently we think alike. Those were all the loopholes I could think of as well."

Kevin nodded. Macy bit her lip.

"You said you trusted me."

"I do. That doesn't mean I have to like the idea of someone else being your date for the night."

"Well," she shrugged, "if we're lucky, no one will want to buy me, and I'll look like a big loser, but I won't have to go to the dance with anyone but you."

"That would never happen, Macy. Do you know how many guys tell me how lucky I am that you're dating me?"

"Really?" she asked, jumping back slightly in surprise.

"Yeah. You're an awesome girl, Macy. Didn't you know that already?"

She smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss before any teachers passed by and gave them the dirty looks they were starting to get used to. "Always nice to be reminded."

"So, I'm flying solo for this dance, huh?"

"You can still bid on someone to help pay for the uniforms."

"But then I'd have to go with someone else."

"Yeah, but if we don't raise enough money with the auction, who knows what we'll have to do next."

"You know, suddenly I'm also thinking that Nick and Joe could use some dates for the dance."

"Stella will kill you."

"Are the guys being auctioned off as well?"

"Those who play sports are."

"I'll buy her Van Dyke." Kevin shrugged as he picked up Macy's bag and held his hand out to her before they would be late for their next classes. "She'll forgive me when she sees how jealous that makes Joe. Trust me."

***

He regretted his decision as soon as she stood up on the school stage two weeks later. In fact, he regretted a lot of his decisions.

He regretted agreeing to this, even if he knew he didn't really have a choice. He regretted promising himself that he wouldn't bid on her. He regretted telling Nick and Joe that he would in fact rather they didn't bid on Macy either. He regretted having kissed her right before she got up on that stage because while he thought that would remind him that they belonged together, he realised it had only managed to make her lips swollen and pouty and so kissable and even more attractive. He left the room while the crowd fought over who would get to be her escort for the evening.

"It's over," Joe told him, letting his hand fall on Kevin's shoulder.

"All of it?"

"Just Macy's part. She's sold and off the stage. You can come back in and pick the lucky girl who's going to get to watch you wallow in self-pity for the night."

"Shouldn't girls be against this? Shouldn't they protest that it's against their rights as women and that they feel objectified and, I don't even know what?"

"They probably would, except that the guys were in as well. The girls couldn't say it was sexist when the guys were on the same auction block. Plus, I think they were just being lazy. They didn't want to do bake sales and car washes and all that other stuff that would have taken up so much more time."

"I would have helped with all that other stuff if it meant Macy not having to go out on a date with… Wait, who bought her in the end?"

Joe shrugged and shook his head. "You know what, I didn't really notice. Come on. Let's go back inside before all the hot chicks are gone."

Joe patted him on the back and headed back into the room where numbers were still being yelled out.

In the end, Stella bought Van Dyke though she admitted to Kevin that it was only to make Joe jealous and not because she wanted a repeat of the unsuccessful El Meat night. Joe won a senior girl who he had barely ever noticed before, but who'd caught his attention as soon as she'd gotten on the stage and received a scoff of disgust from Stella. Nick bid on a girl that walked on stage with her nose in a book, apparently barely realising that she was being pawned off. Kevin bought Sally Matthews.

He'd picked Sally when he'd first scanned the girls that weren't his girlfriend at the beginning of the auction. Part of him picked her because he sat beside Sally in English class and she was always willing to lend him a pencil or listen to him explain to her what exciting thing was going on whether it be "Give a dog a bone" day or Frankie's mastering of a new song on the guitar.

Quietly, he'd also picked Sally because Macy had told him she was afraid there would be very few bids on the girl. He circumvented any whispers that might have been by offering a thousand dollars as an opening bid. No one was going to gossip about why Sally didn't have many takers when they had to compete with the likes of that.

Kevin led Macy to their table for lunch after the auction without asking her who had bought her attention for the night.

***

"I can't wear this," Joe complained as he looked at himself in the mirror. "It's blue. Stella doesn't like me wearing blue unless she knows which hue it's going to be."

"Doesn't matter, Joe. You aren't going with Stella. Remember?"

Joe scoffed at Nick as he took off his tie. "She doesn't care that I'm not going with her. If I show up in a blue she hasn't approved, she is not going to be happy."

"You have, like, ten minutes before you're late. Just pop the info in the Stellavator and put on whatever comes out." Nick straightened the tie around his neck and tried to do something with his hair. It flopped back down to the exact same position it had been in before his attempt. He sighed and turned back to his brother. "You'll be sure it's Stella approved that way."

"Why does this girl have to live so far away? And why can't she get herself to the dance without my help?"

"You picked her, Joe," Kevin reminded him.

"Only because Stella didn't like her. She shouldn't have made that noise, then I would never have picked her. Wait a minute, do you think Stella did it on purpose? Like make that noise because she knew I would pick that girl and be miserable?"

"You've lost it."

"I'm going to call her and ask. She better not ignore me like she did the last time she went out with Van Joke."

"They should really have just set up another double-date," Kevin sighed as he laced his shoes.

"Like Joe is going to leave Stella's side at all tonight? Please. It's going to be a double date whether anyone but Joe wants it to be or not."

Kevin watched as his brother continued to get ready.

"Nick," he asked, "are you bringing a book to the school dance?"

"Yeah. She brought one to the auction. I'm hoping she brings one here too so that I don't have to pretend I can dance. I'll just sit in a corner with my book. You can come get me when you're ready to head out."

"You know, for someone who writes what can be the most romantic songs, you really need some help in that department."

"What? I'm romantic."

"No. You're really not. Come on; let's go before we're late. Joe! We're leaving."

Joe rushed out of the washroom with a green shirt on and his cell phone against his ear.

"We're picking up Stella and Van Dyke too. Let's go before they leave without us."

"Well, I'm predicting a great night."

"That's why I brought the book," Nick answered, sliding down one of the firemen poles in their room.

***

Mackenzie Carson had been the highest bidder vying for Macy's evening.

Kevin had never really had an opinion regarding Mackenzie Carson, but suddenly, he really hated the guy. Didn't like the guy's hair, his clothes, the way his hand rested against Macy's back… There was really nothing he could say about Mackenzie that was positive, except maybe that the guy had good taste if Macy had been the girl to catch his eye.

He tried to be subtle in his observation of them, but from the way Sally was giggling, he guessed he wasn't doing such a great job.

"Sorry," he told her as he handed her a glass of punch. "I'm here with you, I know that. I just… Sorry."

Sally smiled. "It's okay, Kevin. You were nice enough to bid on me, I'm not going to force you to pretend that you're having fun without Macy."

"It's not you, it's just—"

"Her. I know. I understand. Trust me." Her eyes slid away from him, and Kevin couldn't help the smirk that came to his face when he saw her focus on a curly head almost entirely hidden behind a book.

"Nick, huh?"

"What… Oh, no. I just… I have to read that book too. For English class. I just remembered when I saw your brother reading it."

"I'm in your English class. I know we don't have to read that book."

Sally's face fell. "Oh, then it's not the book I thought it was."

"He probably would have bid on you, you know," Kevin encouraged, though he really didn't know if that was true. "He was just looking for the person that would be least likely to make him dance. Since he's sitting alone in the corner, I'm going to guess he chose wisely."

"Amanda probably left," Sally told him. "She's not really into dances, or anything that requires her to move her mind away from boys that shimmer."

"How… lovely for her."

"I can't imagine why Nick is still here…"

"He was in the car with us, remember? He can't leave until we leave. So, really, you can pretend he's your hostage for the night. When you're ready, tell him that it'll cost him a dance with you for me to drive us all home. You'll get one dance if nothing else."

Sally laughed and shook her head at him.

"Do you want to dance in the meantime?"

"I'd love to dance in the meantime," Kevin said as he led her toward the dance floor, leaving their untouched glasses of punch behind.

He watched the crowd around them as he moved to the music. Somehow Joe and Stella were dancing together, and Kevin decided that he didn't want to know where Van Dyke and Joe's date could be found. Hopefully no one had gotten hurt in whatever it had taken to get the friends together for the evening.

He tried to avoid watching Macy dance with someone else.

"This is what it's like for her, you know."

"What?"

"This. She shares her boyfriend with a million girls all the time. You only have to share her with one guy for one night, you know."

"I know. And that's one of the reasons I've been agreeing to this all along. I mean, we're being auctioned off to the contestant with the best poem in some magazine next month, and then I think a date with us is a prize in some new game show. She puts up with a lot."

"Yeah, but she trusts you. You can tell by the way she talks about you, and the way she ignores what the other girls are saying in the locker room about you."

"And I trust he— Wait, what are you girls saying about me in the locker room?"

Sally giggled and let him twirl them around.

"Guess. It'll distract you for a little while, anyway."

***

Kevin had to commend Sally on her diversion skills. She managed to distract him most of the evening, asking him things about the different days of the year he celebrated, and anything else she could remember from their conversations during class. In return, Kevin had purposely gotten sulky at moments, and insisted Nick take over his dancing duties with Sally while he wallowed for a few minutes. To be fair to his brother, he usually only insisted during slow songs when he knew Nick felt his skills were more acceptable. Still, it felt like ages before the last dance was announced.

"Well, that's your limit."

"What?" Kevin asked Sally.

"The DJ's going late," she told him, pointing at her watch. "If you read the fine print, you had me from seven to eleven. You're time with me was done one minute ago. I'll give you the extra minute without charge, though."

Kevin smiled. "Then by all means, tell my baby brother that one more dance and we're out of here."

Sally gave him a quick hug before patting his shoulder and moving toward Nick. Kevin, for his part, watched Macy moving with Mackenzie. He bit his lip and tried to decide how far this trusting thing really had to go. Finally, he moved toward the pair.

"Would you maybe mind if I—"

"Oh, thank God," Mackenzie exclaimed as he moved away from Macy. "Take her from me. Please. If I have to hear about one more concert or one more romantic gesture or one more interview or one more… anything really, I am going to kill myself. Just take her away."

Kevin smile, already reaching for Macy. "I can get her home if you want."

"Yes. Yes, just… It's been… I'll see you Monday, Macy." And he was gone before she could answer.

Macy watched him leave.

"You scared him away."

"I think you did that by yourself, Macy."

She shrugged and giggled. "What can I say? I'm a hardcore Kevin Lucas fan. He's all I can talk about."

"Jonas fan."

"What?"

"You're a hardcore Jonas fan."

"That too. It comes second though. Especially when I have to spend all night away from you."

Kevin smiled down at her and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"So, did I miss anything?"

"Joe and Stella somehow navigated to each other, Nick's date ditched him, and mine apparently has a crush on him."

"Sally?"

"Yeah."

"That is the cutest thing ever."

"We just have to convince Nick of that."

Macy tilted her head. "Are you sure?"

Kevin twirled them around so he could look at what had been behind him and was surprised to find that Nick and Sally were dancing quite closely to one another.

"Maybe not," he said with a shrug. "Maybe auctions aren't all bad."

"Really, cause we could use more money for—"

"I will just pay for it. Whatever it is, I will just pay for it."

Macy laughed and wrapped her arms tighter around Kevin.

"I was just checking. Just checking..."


End file.
